Between Now and Heartbreak - Dylan Allen Page 0,65
And it will lay you flat.”
“But just before you fall into an abyss you’ll never hit the bottom of, a hand will reach out and break your fall. In that split second between the future and the past, you’ll think you’ve been saved.”
She presses her thumbs into the center of my palms again and this it’s not a light touch.
“Ow,” I yelp when her grip turns punishing. She just holds my hands tighter. I look at her face and her eyes squeezed shut in a pose of extreme concentration.
“But the hand that broke your fall is wrapped around your neck, choking the breath out of you. There you are, on the edge of your life and you have a choice in what happens next. The abyss or the devil you know?”
My heart is beating hard in my chest, sweat trickles down the center of my back, my breaths are coming faster- I recognize all the signs of my panic, but I don’t understand why. I have a choice. With a gun to my head or a hand around my throat, I have a choice.
“But if I fall, I’ll die.”
She opens her eyes, and her dark gaze pierces mine. Her smile widens.
“You, my love, were born your wings. And when you spread them, you will fly.”
A shiver runs through me.
I snatch my hands away from her and stand up. I stare down at her, into her eyes and she looks up into mine. I’m trembling. Some of the things she said…remind me of my conversation with James, my kisses with Carter,
“You are welcome.” She says softly and then she stands and leaves.
“Are you okay?” Dina asks me as walk toward her car.
I don’t know how to answer that. “Can we talk about it later? I need to think.”
She nods and true to her words, on the ride home, Dina doesn’t say a word and I’m grateful for the time to think. I’m shaken to my core.
I don’t believe in things like fortune tellers. But, tonight, she said so many things that I’ve felt or heard. And maybe it’s all just coincidence, but the timing, the warning, the wings.
I reach into my purse with trembling hands. pull out my wallet and take out the note that I keep on me all the time. I hand it to Dina.
“What’s this?’
“James left me this letter. Read that last line.”
Her eyes scan it and then dart back to me before she reads it aloud. “When you find the place where you can spread your wings, you’re going to soar. I can’t wait to see it. I love you. James.”
“Do you see?”
She nods and I don’t miss the way her fingers stroke the paper before she hands I to me.
“You’re so lucky to have that.” And my heart squeezes…how did I not see how she felt about James before this?
“So, are you gonna wait until you’ve got a hand around your throat before you try to see what those wings of yours can do?” She asks and interrupts my inner fretting.
“No. Let’s go home and get me dressed. I’ve got a date to crash.”
25
CELEBRATE
BETH
“I shouldn’t be here.” I say in a panicked voice and slump low in my car seat and look over at her, my eyes wide with worry.
She rolls her eyes.
“I told you that a million times, already.”
I turn and scowl at her. “No one forced you to come.”
“Um, I’m your friend. You’re obsessed with him. You think I was going to let you come here in an Uber when you’re clearly not in your right mind?”
“Well, if you think that, why’d you tell me about his date and joke about crashing it?”
“I didn’t think you were going to take me seriously. I was thinking you’d call him or something…normal.”
I kiss my teeth in disgust and grab the door handle.
Dina grabs my arm. “Think about this before you go in. I’m not saying I think it’s important. I know we’re not in Winsome. But, everyone knows who you are. And they’re going to be watching you. Your dad could find out.”
I swallow the apprehension her warning
“I bet they won’t even recognize me. I’ve been blonde and pink for so long now, I bet they’ve forgotten what I really look like.” I run my hands through my now chin-length, dark brown hair.
She gives me an assessing glance from head to toe.
“You look so incredible. And maybe you’re right.”
“Of course, I am.” I bug my eyes out at and grin with a cavalier bravado I don’t